ARTIST STATEMENT

On its most basic level, my work is an attempt to transform ordinary matter into something extraordinary, to bridge the conceptual realm to the material world. My point of entry into art making has been through using materials in ways that distill and re-present various aspects of their inherent physical properties, revealing unexpected beauty in a previously unseen way.
 
I am interested in creating art that is experiential, interactive, and constantly changing, and in these ways may bring about a state of reverie or trance in the viewer, much like watching a fire. Though mostly poetic in conception, my work has a strong scientific bent, and resolving technically difficult problems in sculpture-making has been a hallmark of my career. Flight has been a persistent theme for me throughout my life, and as my work has matured, its manifestations have taken on ever more ethereal forms.
 
In my most recent work, I am interested in finding or imposing order on chaotic airflow systems. The Air Series of sculptures and stage-sized installations involves various lightweight, humble materials such as bird feathers, balloons, flower petals, paper, Styrofoam peanuts, fabrics, fog, fire, or ordinary litter from the street that are trapped, and continuously fly in columns, vortices or waves of open air. Propelled into motion by something invisible, the aerodynamic properties of these materials, and the underlying order within these inherently chaotic airflow systems are revealed in a way that can be continuously observed.